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SANTA MONICA, CA – FEBRUARY 25: Actress Katharine McPhee enjoys a taste of Breyers® Gelato Indulgences at the gelateria backstage at the 32nd Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards sponsored by FIJI Water at Santa Monica Pier on February 25, 2017 in Santa Monica, California. Breyers® Gelato Indulgences features a delicious trio of textures, including rich creamy gelato, luscious sauce and gourmet topping, and is available in grocery stores nationwide. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Breyers)

This was posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

Season 5 runner up and “Scorpion” star Katharine McPhee and Tiger Woods are both threatening legal action on a website that has received leaked, hacked nude photos, according to TMZ.

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 16: Shania Twain performs on stage at the Citi Concert Series on TODAY at Rockefeller Park on June 16, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Citi)

As ABC negotiations with celebrities to add to the “American Idol” panel drag on, new names keep popping up. The latest: Shania Twain and David Hasselhoff, who was a judge on “America’s Got Talent” from 2006 to 2009.

Other names that have come up include Georgia native Luke Bryan, Charlie Puth and Lionel Richie.

***

Sharae Leland finished in the top 6 in Atlanta Idol. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

I watched all 20 performers who tried out to win Atlanta Idol, a mini-promotional contest held last Saturday at WSB-TV headquarters to promote the upcoming “American Idol” season. To be honest, while most of them could sing, very few had what I consider true “star” power. I thought no more than five of them would have gotten past the first round.

One of the judges, Fred Blankenship of Channel 2 Action News, admits he’s a Paula Abdul-style softie. He didn’t give a single singer lower than 3 out of 5 in any category and the worst score he handed out was 12. Sasha the Diva and Ace Young gave several singers fewer than 10 out of a possible 20.

The winner was Chandler Tyson, who covered a Pearl Jam song “Yellow Ledbetter.” Here’s the version he sang after he won, a slightly longer version of what he performed during his audition. The long guitar intro is not something he’ll do during his “Idol” audition because this is not “Guitar Idol.”

Sharae Leland also finished in the top six with a gospel number:

I really liked Andrew Weaver. He’s only 15. He was born in October, 2001, just nine months before “American Idol” debuted.

Jake Michael was one of the few older contestants in the mix. He had performed three and a half hours the night before at a concert and his voice was shot. But he still managed to finish in the top six.

Two others also finished in the top six: Lars Wumble and Carlton Kell.

Lars Wumble. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Carlton Kell definitely had the right look to be a star. And he sang “New York State of Mind” on keyboard well enough to finish in the top six. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

I’ll be covering the bus tour auditions Tuesday morning.

***Adam Lambert recently did a tribute to George Michael at the Project Angel Awards, including covers of “Faith” and “One More Try,” plus Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”

***Clay Aiken’s latest Tweet:

CNN and MSNBC are both talking right now about some nonsense about the moon covering the sun! 🙄 #FakeNews 😉